This is Not a Stick

After my very successful storytime prop of Not a Box, I decided to try making one for Not a Stick. I went to the hardware store and bought a 1″ thick wooden dowel, which perfectly complements the book cover! I wanted to keep the simplicity of the story, so I tore up a cardboard box for the props from the story. They easily slide on and off the wooden dowel and fit in a sandwich baggie for easy storage and for use in outreach storytimes. I used red yarn because I thought the color would show up best, though you could use blue to be true to the picture book. If you want something more fancy, you could use foam or even cover the cardboard with felt.

Here is the fishing pole complete with a paper clip fishing hook.

Here is the baton. Now I just have to find a conductor’s hat!

Here is the paintbrush.

Here are the weights.

Here are the reigns (and I use my horse puppet and maybe even throw on a cowboy hat!).

And here is my sword, or Not-a-Stick!

Here’s my craft for the storytime. If it were any other season right now, I’d get some sticks from the trees. But the craft sticks work just fine!